Europe String » airline

Honeymoon Upgrade

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 08:36:08 +0000

I’ve never tried it myself but a couple of my friends did. They told the check-in staff that they were on their honeymoon and got upgrades. Of course, none of them really were on their honeymoon.

Lots of people have successfully used this trick to get freebies or upgrades in hotels, restaurants or airlines. But due to the number of hoaxers, people in travel business have started asking for proof before the free champagne starts flowing.

If you really are on your honeymoon, as advised by travelsupermarket:

make sure that everyone (travel agent, hotel, airline, restaurant) knows it
bring a copy of your marriage certificate with you
if you are flying, dress up so you would be suitable for an upgrade and to enter the lounge (no flipflop, please)
be really nice to the check-in staff or waiter.

Getting a freebie or an upgrade is a great bonus for those who booked a great travel deal for their honeymoon. Plus, the extra “luxury” surely wouldn’t hurt.

Post from: Europe String

British Airways Offers 45% OFF

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:10:26 +0000

A great summer offer to residents of the UK and Ireland from British Airways…

A one-way flight to Lisbon — where you can travel around for a lot cheaper than most of its EU neighbors – will only set you back £49. You should really take advantage of this. Give me a couple of hours and I can give you a great Lisbon guide for budget travelers.

Should you want to take advantage of British Airways’ offer but have other destinations in mind, you can check offers for flights within Europe here.

Note that you only have until the 17th of July to book for travels between 22 August 2007 and 10 December 2007.

Post from: Europe String

Get Bumped from Your Flight and Earn

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:27:02 +0000

Airlines have this nasty habit of overbooking their flights. In order to make sure that no seat is wasted, they overbook as a back-up plan should any of the passengers do not show up. BUT if and when everyone shows up and there are not enough seats to accommodate all of the passengers, the airlines look for volunteers to give up their seats and take a later flight. If there are not enough volunteers, they are left with no choice but to pick out some passengers’ name and involuntarily bump them.

If you will anyway be crashing over at your sister’s boyfriend’s fratmate’s cousins flat in, say, Paris then that means you do not have to worry about hotel cancellation fees.

Bumped passengers are, of course, compensated. In the US, they are currently in the process of revising the bumping rules.

We are luckier on this side of the world. The European Union’s compensation rules for flights departing from EU countries is very clear:

250 euros for flights up to 1,500km
400 euros for flights from 1,500 to 3,500km
600 euros for all other flights
in addition, passengers get a choice between reimbursement of their ticket and an alternative flight
meals, refreshments and hotel accommodations, when needed

So… you can go right ahead and volunteer. If you get bumped, you can definitely cross that “diet and save by missing a meal each day” on your list.

Post from: Europe String

Update on UK Air Travel Tax Hike

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 22:00:32 +0000

As previously reported, air passengers leaving UK will be facing an increase from February 2007. Yes, even if you have booked and paid for your flight before the tax hike was announced last December.

To repeat…

On short -haul flights, you can expect a tax increase of £5 to £10 per economy class passenger.
On long-haul flights, you have to cough up £40 for economy class (double for business class but that definitely would not apply to you, dear budget traveler).

Note that AIRLINES ARE DEMANDING FURTHER PAYMENTS FROM TRAVELERS FOR TICKETS BOOKED BEFORE THE TAX HIKE WAS ANNOUNCED.

RyanAir will send an e-mail to ask passengers to pay before their flight. Should they fail to pay the day before their scheduled flight, they will not be able to fly.

Jet2 will also be getting in touch with customers to arrange payment.

British Airways said that no additional payment will be required as they are ready to absorb the costs of duty for those who booked before the announcement was made. I guess, they need all the good press that they need due to the current bad press.

It’s going to be a chaotic in UK airports come February 1.

source

Post from: Europe String